This is to announce the availability of the Sumitomo Foundation Grant for Japan-related Research Projects for FY 2012.

Application period: September 1 - October 31, 2012

Grant period: One year (April 2013 through March 2014), but can be extended by another 6 months maximum if required.

Grant budget: Approx. Y55 million in total, with approx. 70 projects to be selected

We encourage the UP research community to submit clusters of interdisciplinary, interrelated proposals on topics or problems of interest to the Philippines and Japan. This synergy, we believe, will create greater impact.

To ensure a higher rate of approval, may we suggest that the CUs implement a review process similar to the Creative Work and Research Grant submissions? We noted that from FY 2001-2011 only 47 out of the 159 applications were awarded. The review process may help in refining the proposals giving greater probability of approval.